Method and apparatus for joining yarns

ABSTRACT

Improved method and apparatus for joining yarns, on a ring spinning frame. A free end of yarns is unwound from a spool, by pneumatic means while the spool is rotating at a preferable speed for unwinding and the unwound yarn is carried to a suction means disposed above, the spool by an air stream flowing from the pneumatic means to the suction means. Next the unwound yarn is subjected to the following operations which is required to carry out the operation for joining yarns.

United States Patent [191 Miyazaki et al.

v [11] 3,807,155 Apr. 30, 1974 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR JOINING YARNS [75] Inventors: Toshio Miyazaki; Matsuzo Saito,

both of Chiisagata-gun, Japan [73] Assigneez Kanebo Ltd., Sumida-ku, Tokyo,

Japan [22] Filed: Feb. 25, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 14,038

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 28, 1969 Japan 44-15766 [52] US. Cl. 57/34 R, 57/34.5 [51] Int. Cl D01h 15/00 [58] Field of Search 57/34 R, 52, 57, l R, 34.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,128,590 4/1964 Escursell-Prat .L 57/34 R 3,373,551

3/1968 Gillono et al. 57/34 R 3,445,997 5/1969 Escursell-Prat 57/34 R 3,540,200 11/1970 Tsukumo et al. 57/34 R 3,546,870 12/1970 Schewe et a1. 57/34 R 3,591,951 7/1971 Urano et a1. 57/34 R 3,374,616 3/1968 Hidden et al. 57/34 R 3,51 1,041 5/1970 Korikovsky et al 57/34 R Primary Examiner-John Petrakes Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Woodhams, Blanchard and Flynn ABSTRACT lmproved method and apparatus for joining yarns, on a ring spinning frame. A free end of yarns is unwound from a spool, by pneumatic means while the spool is rotating at a preferable speed for unwinding and the unwound yarn is carried to a suction means disposed above, the spool by an air stream flowing from the pneumatic means to the suction means. Next the unwound yarn is subjected to the following operations which is required to carry out the operation for joining yarns.

4 Claims, 28 Drawing Figures IIIIIIl PATENTEU 3.801.155

SHEET DlUF 11 IIIIIIA:'

INVENTOR UJW/d M/V/IZ ff/ MZMMMW ATTORNEY PATENTEU N H 3.807155 SHEET U3UF 11 ATTORN PATEN'I'EHAPR 30 mm SHEET U LUF 11 INVENTORS ray/w M mam 8 114473 450 57/74 M %M/ 10% ATTORNEYS mfm umsomm 3.807155 1 v SHEET U70F 11 ATTORNEY msmsmm w 3807;155

- sum U8UF 11 :NVENTORS ray/w Mam/w B marl/2a 54w ATTORN PATEHTEUAFR 30 1914 38071155 SHEET OSUF 11 Maw 5% ATTORNEY METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR JOINING YARNS BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for joining broken yarns on a ring spinning frame, which is characterized by utilizing an improved means for unwinding a free end of yarn from a spool.

Heretofore, two types of joining methods have been applied for the automatic apparatus for joining broken yarns on textile machines. Particularly on the ring spinning frame, one of these joining methods utilizes a'supplementary yarn which is wound about a spool upon which is a broken yarn and thereafter, a free end of the supplementary yarn is joined with a fleece issued from a draft means of the spinning machine. The other method comprises unwinding a free end of a broken yarn from the spool upon which it is wound and next, the thus unwound free end of the broken yarn is joined with the above-mentioned fleece without utilizing any supplementary yarn. The joining apparatus applying the former method has comparatively simpler construction than the apparatus applying the latter method. However, in a following winding operation,

since the spool includes a discontinuous portion of yarn made by the supplementary yarn wound thereon, the winding efficiency is remarkably lowered. Consequently, it is clear that the latter method and apparatus are better than the former ones.

ln'spite of having the above-mentioned preferable working effect, the latter method and apparatus have not been practically utilized for mill operation, rather the former ones are applied for practical use. It was found that the main reason for the above-mentioned drawback of the latter method and apparatus is caused by the means for unwinding a free end of a broken yarn from a spool upon which the broken yarn is wound. That is, in the well-known yarn joining apparatus, a suction air stream is always applied as the means for unwinding a free end of broken yarn from the spool. In this unwinding means, a suction nozzle is horizontally mounted on the apparatus so that the nozzle faces the spindle supporting a spool upon which is wound the broken yarn. And before the free end of the broken yarn is unwound from the spool, the rotation of the spindle is stopped and next, a reverse rotation of the spindle is required so that a yarn having a suitable length for carrying out the joining operation of the broken yarn with the fleece issuing from the draft means of the spinning machine is unwound from the spool. Further, since the direction of unwound yarn from the spool is perpendicular to an axis of the spool, it is required to lead an end of the unwound yamtoward an adjacent position to the delivery portion of the draft means. Consequently, very complex construction of v the joining apparatus is inevitable for satisfying the above-mentioned requirement and the working efficiency of the apparatus is lowered considerably.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an automatic method and apparatus for joining broken yarns on a ring spinning frame, which is characterized by utilizing 'an improved means for unwinding an end portion of a broken yarn from a spool and a simple mechanism without means for controlling the rotation of the spindle, so that the yam-joining operation can be carried out rapidly and perfectly.

It is still another object of this invention to provide means for carrying out the yarn joining operation successfully by simple means for applying a suitable tension to a yarn which is unwound from a spool upon which is wound the broken yarn, while holding a free end of the unwound yarn.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for joining the broken yarn on the spinning machine, which is characterized by simple mechanisms including a unit for positioning a traveller at a predetermined position on a ring, and a simple means for threading the extracted yarn into the traveller so that the yarn joining operation can be carried out successfully with a high working efficiency.

As already illustrated, the most important portion of the automatic yarn joining apparatus is the means for unwinding a free end of a yarn from a spool upon which it is wound. In the conventional apparatus, certain mechanical procedures such as applying a suction force by air suction upon the surface of the spool so as to suck the free end of the yarn, are usually applied. However, in the above-mentioned suction procedure, if the suction force is insufficient to suck the free end of the yarn, the extraction of the yarn from the spool can not be attained. On the contrary, the unwinding of the free end of the yarn from the spool can be satisfactorily carried out by applying the improved method and apparatus of the present invention. In the method of the present invention, if a spindle supporting a spool is not turning, the spindle is firstly turned so that a free end of the yarn is separated a little from the yarn surface of the spool, while a jet-air stream is jetted from an adjacent position facing the bottom of the spool to the top thereof in such a way that the jet air stream flows along the yarn surface thereof, so that the separated free end of the yarn is carried by the jet-air stream. A suction-air stream is formed at a position above the top of the spool in the path of the jet-air stream so that the free end of the yarn carried with the jet air stream is sucked into the suction-air stream, thereby, the free end of the yarn is successfully unwound from the spool. By applying means for controlling the length of the yarn delivered into the suction air stream, it is possible to prepare the yarn having a suitable length for carrying out the joining operation of a broken yarn with a fleece delivered from a draft mechanism with another free end of yarn unwound from a yarn package, also, to impart a sufficient tension for carrying out the above-mentioned joining operation successfully.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a general front view of an embodiment, partly in section of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a view of the apparatus, taken along the line 11-, in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3A is a plan view of a pulling hook utilized for the apparatus shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3B is a sectional view of the pulling hook, taken along the line IlIB-IIIB in FIG. 3a,

FIG. 4 is a side view of a main portion of a unit for joining a broken end of the yarn with a fleece delivered from a drafting mechanism of a spinning machine, applied to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a partly sectioned plan view of the joining unit, shown in FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is a partly sectioned plan view of a unit for cutting an excess yarn, attached to the joining unit shown in FIG. 4,

FIGS. -7, 8, 9 and 10 are explanatory drawings for illustrating the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIGS. 11A,-11B, 12A, 12B, 13A, 13B, 14A, 14B,

15A, 15B, 16A and 16B are also explanatory drawings for further illustrating the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 17 'is a side view of a unit for threading an extracted yarn into a traveller, according to the present invention,

FIG. 18 is a plan view of a unit for braking the rotation of a spindle, applied to the first embodiment,

FIG. 19 is a schematic front view of a second embodiment according to the present invention,

FIG. 20A is a view of a unit for cutting a tail end yarn of a spool, applied to the apparatus in FIG. 19,

FIG. 20B is a sectional view of the cutting unit, taken along a line XXB-XXB, in FIG. 20A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus according to the present invention is preferably adapted for use with a ring spinning frame. The first embodiment of the apparatus includes a carriage 1 which is reciprocally mounted along a path parallel to a row of spindles 2 of 25 a ring spinning frame. Various component elements for carrying out the yarn joining operation are mounted in the carriage 1, that is, a unit for unwinding a free end of a broken yarn from a spool 3 upon which is wound the broken yarn, a unit for gripping the unwound yarn, a unit for positioning a traveller at a predetermined position on a ring 9, means for threading the unwound yarn into the traveller 10, a unit for joining the free end of the unwound yarn with a fleece 11 which is delivered from a draft mechanism of the ring spinning frame and delivered into a pneumatic cleaner 8, means for braking the rotation of the spindle 2, a sensing unit for detecting a broken yarn etc., so that, when the sensing unit detects an occurrence of yarn break, the carriage l is stopped at a position facing the spool 3 upon which is wound the broken yarn. The free end of the extracted yarn is joined with the fleece ll delivered from the draft mechanism while the fleece 11 is sucked into a flute 8 of a pneumatic clearer mounted below the drafting mechanism, thereby the yarn joining operation can be successfully carried out.

UNIT FOR UNWINDING A FREE END OF A BROKEN YARN FROM A SPOOL Referring to FIG. 1, the unit for unwinding a free end of a broken yarn from a spool 3 upon which the broken yarn is wound, comprises a lifting plate 13 having a portion thereof contacting a ring rail 4 so that the lifting plate 13 follows the lifting motion of the ring rail 4. A sliding rod 14 is supported by the lifting plate 13 at its underside and is connected to a piston of a pneumatic cylinder (not shown). A jet nozzle is secured to the sliding rod 14 in such a way that an opening 16 of the jet nozzle 15 is directed to a chase of the spool 3. A flexible pipe 19 connects the jet nozzle 15 with a'supply source of compressed air (not shown). A suction pipe 17 provided with a suction aperture 18, is disposed at a position adjacent to a flute 8 of pneumafil. A flexible pipe connects the suction pipe 17 with a suction means (not shown). A swing arm 21 is swingably supported by a pivot shaft. An inclined cam 23 is contacted by a cam follower 24 mounted on the suction pipe 17. A cam 25 for providing a swinging motion of the swing arm 21 contacts of a cam follower 26 mounted on the swing arm 21 in such a way that the swinging motion of the swing arm 21 is carried out against the tension of. springs 27, 28 so that the suction aperture 18 of the suction pipe 17 is moved forward along the inclined cam 23 so as to be located above the spindle 2.

UNIT FOR CORRECTING A POSITION OF A TRAVELLER Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a jet nozzle 29 is mounted on the lifting plate 13 so as to run the traveller 10 along the ring 9 by an air jet stream therefrom in spite of the traveller 10 being stopped from running at the time of a yarn break and being located at an indefinite position on the ring 9. A stopper 30 is slidably mounted on the lifting plate 13 so as to stop the running of the traveller 10 by the air jet stream from the jet nozzle 29. An end of a swing arm 31, which is pivoted at a pivot 32, is connected to an end of the stopper 30, and another end of the swing arm 31 is connected to an end of a first inner wire 33 which is connected at its other end with a first lever 34 actuated by a motion of a first cam 35'secured to a driving shaft 36 by way of a cam follower 37.

MEANS FOR THREADING AN EXTRACTED YARN INTO A TRAVELLER Referring to FIGS. 1,2, 3A and 3B, aguide rod 38 slidably passes through the lifting plate 13 so that the guide rod 38 is capable of lifting along the lifting plate 13. A hook 39 and a pulling hook 40 provided with a guide 41 for leading an unwound yarn, which is unwound from the spool 3, toward the hook 39, are swingably mounted on atop end portion of the guide rod 38. A guide lever 42 is pivoted on the lifting plate 13 by a pivot pin 43, so that the unwound yarn held by the hook 39 of the pulling hook 40, is led to the traveller 10 by the motion of the guide lever 42 in accordance with the downward motion of the guide rod 38. Further, a pushing lever 44 is swingably mounted on the lifting plate 13 and a traveller hanger 45 is swingably mounted on the front end portion of the pushing lever 44 so that the traveller hanger 45 is capable of swinging in upward and downward directions, as shown in the drawing. An end of the guide lever 42 is connected to a second inner wire 46 which is secured at its end to a second lever (not shown) actuated by a second cam 47 secured to the driving shaft 36. A cam follower (not shown) is positioned between the second cam 47 and the second lever. The pushing lever 44 is connected to an end of a swing lever 48 swingably supported by a pivot shaft 49, and another end of the swing lever 48 is connected to an end of a third inner wire 50 secured to an end of a third lever (not shown) which is actuated by a third cam 51 secured to the driving shaft 36. A cam follower (not shown) is positioned between the third cam 51 and the third lever. A slide rod 52 is connected to an end of a swinglever 53 swingably mounted on a swing shaft'54. Further, an end 40a of the pulling hook 40 is connected to the slide rod 52, and another end of the swing lever 53 is connected to a fourth inner wire 55 secured to a fourth lever which is actuated by a fourth cam 56 secured on the driving shaft 36. A cam follower is positioned between the fourth cam 56 and the fourth lever. In the abovementioned mechanism, the guide lever 42 is turned in accordance with the rotation of the second cam 47 and the pushing lever 44 is provided with a reciprocal sliding motion in accordance with the rotation of the third cam 51 and the pulling hook 40 is provided with a swing motion in accordance with the rotation of the fourth cam 56. The guide rod 38 is connected to a piston of a pneumatic cylinder (not shown) so that the guide rod 38 is provided with an upward and downward motion in accordance with the reciprocal motion of a piston of a pneumatic cylinder (not shown).

UNIT FOR JOINING THE BROKEN END OF YARN WITH A FLEECE FROM A DRAFT MECHANISM Referring to FIGS. 1, 4, 5 and 6, the joining unit of the first embodiment comprises a swing lever 58 pivoted by a pivot shaft 59, and a supporting member 60 rotatably supporting a joining roller 61 and mounted on an end portion of the swing lever 58. A connects rod 62 connecting an end of the swing lever 58 with an actuating rod 63, which is moved by a motion of a fifth cam 64 secured on the driving shaft 36. In the abovementioned connections, the connecting rod 62 is elastically connected by way of a spring 65 (FIG. 5). A cam follower 66 is positioned between the fifth cam 64 and the actuating rod 63. By rotating the fifth cam 64, the swing lever 58 is provided with a swing motion so that the joining roller 61 is subjected to contact with a bottom front roller 6 of the drafting mechanism of the ring spinning frame (see dotted line position in FIG. 4). Further, a cutter 67 is mounted on a rear end portion of the supporting member 60. This cutter 67 comprises a stational knife 68 and a movable knife 69 secured to an end of a slide pin 70 slidably inserted in a hollow bearing 71 secured to the supporting member 60 by way of a spring 72. A free end of the slide pin 70 is always pushed against an inclined plate 73 secured to the connecting rod 62 by a resilient force of the spring 72 so that the cutter 67 is opened. By the rotation of the fifth cam 64, the connecting rod 62 is pushed toward the bottom front roller 6 so that the swing lever 58 is turned clockwise and the joining roller 62 contacts the bottom front roller 6 as shown by broken lines. And the connecting rod 62 is further pushed to the roller 6 by further turning of the fifth cam 64 while compressing the spring 65, so that the slide pin 70 is pushed into the hollow bearing 71 by the movement of the inclined plate 73 and the opening of the cutter 67 is closed.

MEANS FOR BRAKING THE ROTATION OF A SPINDLE As shown in FIGS. 1 and 18, means for braking the rotation of a spindle 2 comprises a brake member 76 which is provided with a U-shaped recess formed at a free end thereof so that the recess is capable of engaging a bottomv portion 2a of the spindle 2. The brake member 76 is slidably mounted in a frame of the carriage 1 so that the brake member 76 moves forward and rearward in accordance with a reciprocal motion of a piston of a cylinder (not shown).

YARN JOINING OPERATION OF THE FIRST EMBODIMENT In the method for joining a broken yarn with a fleece, which is delivered from a draft mechanism, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the

'yarn joining operation is carriedout by the following steps:

1. The carriage l is stopped at a position facing a spool 3 upon which the broken yarn is wound, when the sensing unit (not shown) detects an occurrence of yarn break. Next, the swing arm 21 is actuated to swing by the turning motion of the cam 25 while springs 27 and 28 push the swing arm 21 toward the cam 25 by way of the cam follower 26. By the above-mentioned swing motion of the swing arm 21, the suction pipe 17 is displaced forward so that the suction aperture 18 of the suction pipe 17 is positioned above the spindle 2. In the above-mentioned operation, the inclined cam 23 works as a guide for the forward motion of the suction pipe 17 by way of the cam follower 24. Next, a suction air stream in the suction pipe 17 is formed by actuating a suction device (not shown) and the jet nozzle 15 is displaced forward by means of the forward sliding motion of the sliding rod 14 which is actuated by means of a pneumatic cylinder (not shown), (Referring to FIGS. 1, 7 and 8.)

2. When the ring rail 4 comes to an uppermost position thereof and starts to move downward, a compressed air source is operated and the jet nozzle 15 supplies a jet stream directed to a chase of the spool 3 during the downward motion of the ring rail 4. By the action of the above-mentioned jet air stream, a free end of the broken yarn 3a is separated from the yarn surface of the spool 3 and is carried upward by the air stream formed between the opening 16 of the jet nozzle 15 and the suction aperture 18 of the suction pipe 17. The action of centrifugal force caused by the high speed rotation of the spindle 2 also accelerates the above-mentioned separation of the free end of the broken yarn 3a from the spool 3. Consequently, the free end of the broken yarn 3a is sucked into the suction pipe 17. At the time of the above-mentioned operation, the brake member 76 is displaced towards spindle 2 by means of a pneumatic cylinder (not shown) so that the U-shaped recess portion is engaged with the bottom portion 2a of the spindle 2 for braking the rotation of the spindle 2, and the jetted air stream from the jet nozzle 15 is simultaneously stopped. (Referring to FIGS. 1 and 9.) V

3. Next, the suction pipe 17 is retracted to its original position and the jet nozzle 15 is also retracted to its original position by means of the pneumatic cylinder (not shown). (Referring to FIGS. 1 and 10.)

4. The stopper 30 of the traveller positioning unit is moved forward by a motion of the first lever 34, the first inner wire 33 and the swing arm 31 in accordance with the turning motion of the first cam 35, thereby the free end of the stopper 30 contacts the ring 9. After completion of the above-mentioned motion, a jetted air stream is ejected from the jet nozzle 29. By this jetted air stream, the traveller 10, which has already stopped at a time of yarn break, is simultaneously run on the 'ring by the jetted air stream from the jet nozzle 29 so that the traveller 10 is stopped at a position defined by the stopper 30. The above-mentioned position is so defined that, in case the spindle 2 turns clockwise, the position is defined in a range y x in FIG. 2. Next, ejection of the air stream from the jet nozzle 29 is stopped. (Referring to FIGS. 1, 11A and 11B.)

5. Next, the stopper 30 is retracted to its original position and the guide rod 38 is lifted by a pneumatic cylinder (not shown). By the above-mentioned lifting motion of the guide rod 38, the free end of the unwound yarn 3b held by the suction pipe 17 contacts the guide 41 of the pulling hook 40 mounted on the suction pipe 17 so that the free end of the unwound yarn 3b is engaged with the hook 39 of the pulling hook 40. (Referring to FIGS. 1, 12A and 12B.)

6. After the above-mentioned motion, the pneumatic cylinder (not shown) is actuated so that the guide rod 38 is displaced downward while the unwound yarn 3b is held by the hook 39. (Referring to FIGS. 1, 13A and 8. Next, the pushing lever 44 is displaced forward by movement of the swing lever 48 and the third inner wire 50 in accordance with the turning of the third cam 51 secured to the driving shaft 36. (Referring to FIGS. 1, 15A and 15B.)

9. A rod 78 is secured at its one end upon a rear end of the traveller hanger 45 and is provided with a curved portion 79 at a rear end thereof. A slide guide 80 is mounted on the lifting plate 13. When the curved portion 79 engages with the slide guide 80 slidably supporting the pushing lever 44 in accordance with the further forward displacement of the pushing lever 44, the traveller hanger 45 turns upward, as shown by a broken line in FIG. 17, so that the unwound yarn 3b is engaged with the traveller 10. (Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 17.)

10. After completion of the above-mentioned motion of the guide lever 42 and the pushing lever 44, these members are retracted to their original positrons.

11. The joining roller 61 is displaced toward the bottom front roller 6 due to motions of the actuating rod 63, the connecting rod 62 and the swing lever 58 in accordance withthe rotation of the fifth cam 64 so that an upper portion of the unwound yarn 3b is pressed against the bottom front roller 6. By the above-mentioned motion, the unwound yarn 3b is led into a snail wire 12 of a spinning unit having the spool 3 upon which the broken yarn is wound. The pulling hook 40 is caused to swing clockwise in opposition to a plate spring 77 (Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3A.) during the motion of the swing lever 54 supporting-the joining roller 61, by motions of the fourth lever, the fourth inner wire 55, the swing lever 53, and the forward motion of the slide rod 52. By the above-mentioned swing motion of the pulling hook 40, a base portion of the unwound yarn 3b is released from the hook 40, and the braking of the spindle 2 is released by the rearward sliding motion of the brake member 76 which is actuated, by the rearward motion of the pneumatic cylinder (not shown). (Referring to FIGS. 1, 4, 16A and 163.) By carrying out the abovementioned operation, the unwound yarn .3b between the joining roller 61 and a nip point of the bottom front rollers 6 and a top front roller 7 of the draft means is twisted. By this twisting action, a free end of the unwound yarn 3b is twisted with the fleece 11, while being delivered into the pneumatic clearer 8 so that the yarn joining operation can be carried out. When the joining roller 61 is displaced toward the front bottom roller 6, the unwound yarn 3b passes in a V-shaped guide 61a disposed upon the joining roller 61 (FIG. 5), and the yarn 3b is also led to the cutter 67 mounted on the supporting member 60. After completion of the abovementioned yarn joining operation, the cutter 67 is closed by the motion of the movable knife 69 actuated by theforward displacement of the connecting rod 62 is accordance with the turning motion of the fifth cam 64 so that the excess portion of the unwound yarn 3b is cut off. After removing the cut off portion of the unwound yarn 3b by the suction pipe 17, the sucking operation of the suction pipe 17 is stopped. By the return motion of the connecting rod 62 actuated by the fifth cam 64, the joining roller 61 is retracted to its original position and the movable knife 69 is also retracted to its original position so that the cutter 67 is opened. After releasing the base portion of the unwound yarn 3b from the hook 39 by the swinging motion of the pulling hook 40, the pulling hook 40 is retracted to its original position in accordance with the retracing of the sliding rod 52 by means of the forth cam 56 due to the resilient force of the plate spring 77.

The yarn joining operation according to the apparatus of the present invention is performed as mentioned above, and after the completion of the yarn joining operation, the carriage 1 is carried along a spindle rail 5 of the ring spinning frame in a condition shown in FIG. 1. When the detecting means detects a spool upon which the broken yarn is wound, the carriage l is stopped at a position facing the spool, and the abovementioned yarn joining operation is again commenced.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, motions of the sliding rod 14, the guide rod 38 and the brake member 76 are actuated by the pneumatic cylinders, respectively, however, other mechanical means such as a combination of rack and pinion, or a link mechanism or a piston mechanism utilizing an'oil pressure can be successfully utilized for the same purpose. However, by our experiments, it was found that it is the best way to utilize the pneumatic cylinder, because, in the abovementioned embodiment, the air jet nozzles 15 and 29 are used, therefore, the pneumatic cylinder can be operated by utilizing a single air-supply source.

As already illustrated in the above-mentioned embodiment, a free end of the broken yarn is unwound from a spool, upon which the broken yarn is wound, and is firstly separated from the spool by the jet air stream jetted from the jet nozzle and the centrifugal force caused by the high speed rotation of a spindle supporting the spool. Next, the separated yarn is led to an air stream formed between the above-mentioned nozzle and the suction nozzle disposed above the spindle so that the unwound yarn from the spool is held in the above-mentioned air stream and is directed upward. Therefore, thethreading of the unwound yarn into a traveller can be carried out satisfactorily and easily. Further, since the joining operation and the cutting operation of the excess portion of the unwound yarn are carried outin combination, these operations can be successfully and easily carried out.

Since, the mechanism of the apparatusof the present invention is simple in spite of the excellent function, the yarn joining apparatus of the present invention can be successfully utilized for practical use.

Referring'to FIGS. 19, 20A and 203, a second embodiment of the yarn joining apparatus of the present invention is characterized by means for sucking the unwound yarn from a spool upon which the broken yarn is wound. That is, inthe second embodiment, the sucking means is provided with means so that an excess portion of the unwound yarn sucked into the suction means can be cut off. Therefore,- troubles at the time of the joining operation of the extracted yarn with a fleece delivered from a draft mechanism can be prevented. In the drawing of this invention, the same reference numerals are used for the equivalent elements of the apparatus as that of the elements of the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the suction means comprises the suction pipe 17 provided with the suction aperture 18 and a suction tank 81 and a connecting conduit 82 provided with an extensible pipe portion 83 formed at a middle portion, thereof. At a position between the extensible pipe portion 83 and the suction tank 81, a cutting means 84 is mounted. The cutting means 84 comprises a stationary knife 85 secured to the connecting conduit 82 and a knife 86 turnably supported by a fulcrum pin 87 mounted on a flange of the conduit 82 The movable knife 86 is turned by a suitable signal as hereinafter described in the drawing. In this embodiment, the yarn 3b, unwound from the spool 3, is sucked into the suction pipe 17 through the suction aperture 18 which was previously displaced above the spool 3 so that the unwound yarn 3b is led to the suction tank 81. Before threading the unwound yarn 312 into the traveller 10, the movable knife 86 is turned by means of an electrical magnet (not shown) which is actuated by an electrical signal developed by a signal generator (not shown) related to the threading means, so that the excess portion of the unwound yarn 3b is cut off by the cutting means 84. The turned position of the movable knife 86 is represented by a broken line in FIG. 20A. The length of the unwound yarn 3b, is defined by the length of the extensible pipe portion 83 which can be adjusted so as to obtain the preferable length for joining the unwound yarn 312 connected to the spool 3 with the fleece 11. At the time just after retracing the brake member 76 from the spindle 2, the joining roller 61 is displaced to the front bottom roller 6 so that the joining roller 61 contacts the roller 6. Therefore, the yarn joining operation is carried out in the same manner as the first embodiment. In the above-mentioned operation, since the unwound yarn 3b is held with a suitable tension, which is generated by the suction force of the suction pipe 17 and the connecting conduit 82, pulling out of the unwound yarn 3b from the suction tube 17 is pre- 1. In an automatic apparatus for joining a fleece delivered from a draft means of a spinning unit with the free end of a broken yarn unwound from a spool upon which a spinning yarn is broken, the improvement comprising in combination:

means for unwinding the free end of broken yarn from said spool;

means for threading said unwound yarn into a traveller positioned upon a ring of said spinning unit;

means for joining said free end of broken yarn un-.

wound from said spoolwith a fleece delivered from said draft means related to' said spinning unit; said unwinding means comprising an air jet nozzle directed toward the chase of said spool and mounted on a lifting plate capable of following the up and down motion of the ring rail of said spinning machine;

said joining means having a suction nozzle for receiving the free end of said broken yarn carried by an upward air stream from said air jet nozzle and movable contact means for contacting the upper portion of said broken yarn as it extends between said suction nozzle and said spool with said fleece delivered from said draft unit; and

cutter means mounted on said contact means for severing said yarn from said suction nozzle simultaneously with the completion of a forward motion of said contact means for contacting said upper end portion of unwound yarn received by said suction nozzle with said fleece.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said threading means comprises a first element for hooking said yarn unwound fromsaid spool at the portion located between said suction nozzle and said spool, a second element for leading said portion of yarn to a position adjacent to an upper flange surface of said ring, and a third element for inserting said portion of yarn into the space between said traveller and said ring.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, further including a brake member displaceably mounted on said apparatus for braking the rotation of a spindle related to said spool; and

means for positioning said traveller at a predetermined position upon said ring, said positioning means comprising a stop slidably mounted on said lifting plate and a further air jet nozzle for moving said traveller into engagement with said stop, said air jet nozzle being mounted on said lifting plate and directed tangentially toward the outer cylindrical flanged surface of said ring.

4. In a method for joining a fleece delivered from a draft means of a spinning unit with the free end of broken yarn unwound from a spool upon which a spinning yarn is broken, the improvement comprising the steps of decreasing the running speed of said spool, then unwinding the free end of broken yarn from said spool by an air stream ejected toward the chase of said spool from the bottom portion of said spool, engaging the free end of said broken yarn by pneumatic means and displacing said free end of broken yarn to a position adjacent to said draft means while providing twist to said free end portion of broken yarn, then contacting a portion adjacent to said free end of the broken yarn with a fleece delivered from said draft means, and substantially simultaneously severing said free end of broken yarn from said pneumatic means. 

1. In an automatic apparatus for joining a fleece delivered from a draft means of a spinning unit with the free end of a broken yarn unwound from a spool upon which a spinning yarn is broken, the improvement comprising in combination: means for unwinding the free end of broken yarn from said spool; means for threading said unwound yarn into a traveller positioned upon a ring of said spinning unit; means for joining said free end of broken yarn unwound from said spool with a fleece delivered from said draft means related to said spinning unit; said unwinding means comprising an air jet nozzle directed toward the chase of said spool and mounted on a lifting plate capable of following the up and down motion of the ring rail of said spinning machine; said joining means having a suction nozzle for receiving the free end of said broken yarn carried by an upward air stream from said air jet nozzle and movable contact means for contacting the upper portion of said broken yarn as it extends between said suction nozzle and said spool with said fleece delivered from said draft unit; and cutter means mounted on said contact means for severing said yarn from said suction nozzle simultaneously with the completion of a forward motion of said contact means for contacting said upper end portion of unwound yarn received by said suction nozzle with said fleece.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said threading means comprises a first element for hooking said yarn unwound from said spool at the portion located between said suction nozzle and said spool, a second element for leading said portion of yarn to a position adjacent to an upper flange surface of said ring, and a third element for inserting said portion of yarn into the space between said traveller and said ring.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 2, further including a brake member displaceably mounted on said apparatus for braking the rotation of a spindle related to said spool; and means for positioning said traveller at a predetermined position upon said ring, said positioning means comprising a stop slidably mounted on said lifting plate and a further air jet nozzle for moving said traveller into engagement with said stop, said air jet nozzle being mounted on said lifting plate and directed tangentially toward the outer cylindrical flanged surface of said ring.
 4. In a method for joining a fleece delivered from a draft means of a spinning unit with the free end of broken yarn unwound from a spool upon which a spinning yarn is broken, the improvement comprising the steps of decreasing the running speed of said spool, then unwinding the free end of broken yarn from said spool by an air stream ejected toward the chase of said spool from the bottom portion of said spool, engaging the free end of said broken yarn by pneumatic means and displacing said free end of broken yarn to a position adjacent to said draft means while providing twist to said free end portion of broken yarn, then contacting a portion adjacent to said free end of the broken yarn with a fleece delivered from said draft means, and substantially simultaneously severing said free end of broken yarn from said pneumatic means. 